In meeting with Canada’s PM in Ottawa, PM warns against diplomatic path with Iran, says international community must not fall into Tehran’s trap.
In his first public comments on a North American visit that will include talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday Israel reserved the right to defend itself against Iran.
Netanyahu said the international community should not allow what he called “Iran’s relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons” to succeed.
“As for Israel, like any sovereign country, we reserve the right to defend ourselves against a country that calls and works for our destruction,” he told reporters in Ottawa at the start of a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Netanyahu also ruled out the idea of international talks to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons, just as the United States is pursuing a diplomatic tack.
Netanyahu will meet Obama on Monday to address growing differences between the two leaders over what Washington fears could be an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites.
Obama’s preferred policy for now is to use diplomacy and increased sanctions to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
“It [Iran] could do again what it has done before, it could pursue or exploit the talks as they’ve done in the past to deceive and delay so that they can continue to advance their nuclear program.
